I have a 2011 Ultra 103 with 255 cams and TTS tuner, with a high flow AC. The cam and the tune make it happen. From seat of the pants I would say you get 80 to 90 percent of the gains from a TTS and cams over a TTS tune, cams, mufflers and AC.
This is real world experience, not what I think will happen. I tried the different configurations and can say a set of 255 cams, a TTS and then down load the file in the TTS files and you will have a winner for what you want. PM me if you want to talk more. Greg

 

I totally agree. These cams are designed to do their heavy lifting below 4000 rpms, and if you look at dyno results for high flow air cleaners, most of the benefits don't show up until after 4000 rpms. The short duration on the 255s also works well with a wide variety of mufflers and exhaust design. The OP had said right off that he understands that a stage I plus the cams would be better, but wanted to know if he'd pick up any gains with just the cams. And yes, he would. The key is the tune. You can extract most of the benefits offered by the 255 cam set with stock intake and exhaust. You might not get the last 20%, which would be a big deal to a lot of guys, but that didn't seem to be the case here.

 

So, similar to the OP, I am having a Stage II BB 103 kit with 255 and SE A/C installed next week. You mentioned that the key would be the "tune". What tune is the best value?

 

Don't be fooled...the SE 255 cam sounds like a good cam for your style of riding and what you are looking for. If money is a little, keep looking in the for sale section here on the forum. There are plenty of good deals on AC filter and pipes. You will feel the difference.

 

Well, we've been talking about a somewhat unusual configuration, which is SE255 cams in a stock 96, without stage I upgrades. In that case, a custom dyno tune would be the best thing to do. All of the recent bikes run crazy lean from the factory, and adding a little fuel is a good idea even on a stock bike. You could do just the 255 cams on a stock 96, but to get the bike running at its best, you'd need some type of tuner such as a Power Commander or TTS, and a dyno tune. You could also run the auto tune modules on the Power Commander, or Vtune the tts.

In your case, where you're doing a typical stage II upgrade, there's a whole lot of options open to you. You could do the ECM stage II download from your dealer for about 150 bucks. Or you could run a Power Commander with a map designed for your configuration, which wouldn't be hard to find. Or you could go the dyno tune route as well, which would cost more, but offer the best performance.

 

I am considering the 255 cams also, for those of u that have them what happens above 4k is there a noticable drop, I have heard they "fall flat" and "run out of gas" I am going back and forth between these and the 204's

 

Choose your riding style, then choose a cam that fits that style--
That is to say if you run flat out light to light, or constantly live on the high end of the band, a 255 will not make you happy...
however, if you need a low end torque cam, that comes on early, and stays on all the way to 5k, but flattens out above 5k, then a 255 might be your ticket...

 

This is a concept that we see occasionally on this forum and others, and perhaps the problem is defining "fall flat." I also don't ever recall the owner of a bike with 255's saying they "fall flat" or "run out of steam" above xxxx RPM. I have them in my TC96 and the impression I get riding my bike is anything but the description above. They are not cams that will increase peak-HP as much as most other aftermarket cam sets, but are rather designed to improve low-end and midrange torque, which they do very well in engines with stock-to-moderate compression. Cujo is right that they peak at around 5k and "flatten out" thereafter, but "fall flat" is a misnomer, IMO. For example if you are peaking at 85hp at 5k RPM and produce 82hp at 6k RPM, you are still pulling rather well.

They are especially good bolt-in cams for otherwise stock engines with Stage 1 mods in heavy touring bikes. If properly tuned and allowed to breathe (free-flowing intake and exhaust), they will provide a very flat TQ curve and do pull all the way out to the redline. The peak-HP improvement may be along the lines of 4HP, while TQ should increase by 8-10 at it's peak over an otherwise-equal Stage 1 bike with stock cams. Almost any other performance cam set you can name will produce more peak-HP than 255's, but some riders don't hang-out above 4000rpm often and would prefer the power below that point. For me routinely going above 4000rpm is unnecessary since I have all the power I need below that. YMMV. They can also be commonly seen on Ebay as low-mileage CVO pulls for around $150, so IMO the bang-for-the-buck factor is high for these cams, especially if you do the work yourself.

The 204's are a good option too, IMO, but compared to 255's and given stock 9.2 compression they will not produce quite the oomph in the low-end and will put the power higher in the band. It's all in what you want and where you want the power. I do feel that ideally 204's need a bit more compression than the 9.2:1 most of us start out with, but I'm told 9.5-10.0 or thereabouts is a good range for them. The 255's do well at 9.2 on up to 10.0, but toward the higher part of that range (specifically 10.0) they may have problems with hot-starting due to the very high CCP they produce. Based on what I read in the forums some do but most don't.

 

IMHO. I'm going w the 255 cams. I have all parts except for spacer kit that i might need. Waiting for warm weather to install. I agree w iclick, i want my torque on the low end to mid range. I have had experience with andrews 37 and kuryakyn tc2 cams on my past bikes fxdx and fxstb. These cams produced good power with the proper compression and exhaust but you still have to rev the motor. I'm riding a bagger and my driving habits have changed over the years that i dont rev the **** out out of it to go street light to street light anymore.

 

Will the 255's work ina 88 cu. in. motor?